Here be spoilers. Any thing that has not been aired on the free versionnote one week after the paid version of Crunchyroll should be spoiler-tagged.

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General

The Ace: The first four Hokage were each hailed as the strongest warriors of their time and managed to surpass every other shinobi in the art of asskicking, to the point where their strength and skill were considered absurdly unnatural.

Asskicking Equals Authority: Zig-zagged. It was initially claimed the Hokages earned the position by being hands down the strongest ninja in the village at the time (which the first four were, to be fair), but politics also plays a big role in their selection, as they need to be approved of by both the ninjas of the village and the daimyo. Notably, Hashirama originally intended the First Hokage to be Madara, but he was outvoted by the rest of the village. However, it's likely that candidates still need to be one of the village's best to even be considered for the job.

Failure Knight: The only Hokage who didn't end up lamenting his shortcomings or inability to resolve certain problems was Tobirama, who arguably did more damage in the long run than all the others combined.

Famed In-Story: Like most elite ninja. Most notable with Hashirama, who has both the largest reputation and is the farthest from it (in terms of personality).

Hot Consort: The wives of the Hokage are this to their spouses: Mito to Hashirama (First Hokage) and Kushina to Minato (Fourth Hokage).

Informed Ability: For most of the series, almost everything we knew about their combat prowess was through word of mouth from characters that came after them, and what we actually saw was fairly underwhelming, to say the least. After they're all revived by Orochimaru during the Fourth Ninja War, we get a much better showing from them, particularly the First and Second Hokages.

Master-Apprentice Chain: Hashirama founded the village and was the First Hokage. His brother became the Second Hokage, and was the one who trained the Third Hokage and Danzo, who would become acting Sixth Hokage. The Third Hokage trained the Fifth Hokage (who is herself the granddaughter of the First and grandniece of the Second) and the man who would go on to train the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage, of course, would train Kakashi, who would train Naruto. Both would go on to become Hokage; the Sixth and Seventh, respectively.

No-Sell: Thanks to being resurrected zombies, the first four Hokages are immune to Madara's Infinite Tsukiyomi.

Self-Duplication: All but Tsunade have some sort of Clone technique, and Tsunade's summon can do this too. Wood for Hashirama and Shadow clones for the rest.

The Team: The first four work together as Edo Tensei, with the Fifth close to the action. They roughly hit the archetypes of the Five-Man Band. The First is the The Leader and a jovial and open-minded Hero. The Second is his brother and Lancer with a stern and judgmental personality. The Third is The Big Guy, hailed as the God of Shinobi during part one and good enough to take on (slightly weakened versions of) the first two simultaneously. The Fourth is The Smart Guy as a Combat Pragmatist that lacks the others' raw power, but is shown to be calm, cultured, and Crazy-Prepared. The Fifth is The Chick as the Token Girl and the world's best medical shinobi.

Undying Loyalty: Each of the Hokage сompletely loyal to the village and its inhabitants.

Hashirama spared Madara, enabling everything Madara would go on to do. Though it's later revealed that this isn't exactly what happened. Hashirama actually did kill Madara, however Madara - using ratherconvoluted means was able to revive himself.

Tobirama was partially responsible for Madara going bad as well as gaining the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and he laid the groundwork for the prejudices that would cause the Uchiha coup and massacre. He also invented the technique that allowed for Madara to later return from the dead and successfully implement the Moon's Eye Plan.

Sarutobi was the one to first get Orochimaru fixated on immortality, due to a comment made near Oro's parents' graves. He also couldn't bring himself to stop Orochimaru (who would later start a war against Konoha and eventually kill him) when he had the chance. He also allowed Danzo to run around unchecked, which would have severe consequences in the long run, as every single non-Uchiha Big Bad, including Orochimaru, had some ties with Danzo or were a result of his actions that would come to haunt the very village he was claiming to protect.

Minato was unable to prevent his students Rin and Obito deaths, which is what spawned the Big Bad.

Walking Spoiler: Given just how deeply ingrained their actions are into the backstory of the series, and their influence on everything that's actually going on in the present day, this is unavoidable.

World's Best Warrior / World's Strongest Man: This title has been somewhat liberally applied to the whole group, even Tsunade (who's hailed as the strongest kunoichi), with each having been variously stated to be the strongest Shinobi alive while they held the position and "strongest shinobi ever produced/seen by the Hidden Leaf". Chapter 627 even uses "the four strongest soldiers" in the narrative text when referring to them. Needless to say, when the top dog of the four is discussed, it gets messy. Though amongst all seven of the Hokage, there's no debate because the most powerful by far and away is obviously Naruto.

Hashirama Senju

The fellow countrymen of the Konoha make up each part of my body… those of the village believe in me, and I believe in them… That's what it means to be Hokage!

The First Hokage, also Tsunade's grandfather, was one of the founders of the Village Hidden in The Leaves (The other being Madara Uchiha). He was one of the greatest shinobi to ever live and respected by nearly everyone. His claim to fame was his Kekkai Genkai, Wood Style, which allowed him to utilize wood for various effects, to the point of being able to combat and suppress the power of a Tailed Beast.

In Shippuden, it's revealed he was the head of the Senju Clan who, in the olden days, clashed with Madara Uchiha and his clan. He formed an alliance with Madara and the other Uchiha to establish the Hidden Leaf Village as the first ninja village; However, Madara believed that he and the Uchiha were being treated unfairly and the two fought at the Valley of the End, with Hashirama ultimately emerging victorious.

His hobbies: bonsai and wood sculpting.

Favorite phrases: "The vast lands fertile" and "Heaven's garments are without seams"

They refer to perfect beauty without any artificial elements.

100% Adoration Rating: This is the reason why he became Hokage in the first place. Every inhabitant liked and respected him even members of the Uchiha Clan with whom they had a long of enmity recognized him as the leader of the village.

The Ace: Even the other three Hokage pale in comparison to Hashirama's power, which is described as being so vast that no other ninja has come close to matching him. Even Madara, who wiped the floor with five Kage, used the Sharingan to bring Kurama under his control and Hashirama still beat him.

Adapted Out: He and Tobirama are absent in the live theater adaptation.

Adorkable: Contrasted with his more stoic brother, Hashirama seems downright goofy in comparison. He's chagrined at the idea of his granddaughter, Tsunade, being the Fifth Hokage, admitting that he spoiled her rotten as a child.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He's more than willing to bow his head to another person if it helps calm the situation down.

All-Loving Hero: Extremely courteous, sincere and kindhearted, and he sees the best in everyone, for better or worse.

Always Someone Better: He was this for Madara Uchiha. A big part of the current problems in the series are ultimately the result of Hashirama beating Madara in everything and Madara's inability to accept this.

Ambiguously Brown: He and his brother likely inherited traits from different sides of their parents, though curiously, in the manga he seems to have the same skin tone as his brother.

Hashirama: No matter what happens I will protect our… no my village. I still believe that protecting the village is the best way to protect people, shinobi, and children…! Anyone who tries to harm it, whether they are my friends, siblings or my own children… I won't forgive them.

Awesomeness Is a Force: The force of his chakra is enough to make the room he's standing in start crumbling. And he wasn't even serious.

Beware the Nice Ones: He's an easygoing, jovial, and polite guy, but when he gets serious he won't hesitate to kill someone who he considers a brother, or even his own family if they threaten his home.

Beware the Silly Ones: He may be a big goof, but there is a reason why he was known as the God of Shinobi.

Characterization Marches On: When Hashirama was brought back by an incomplete Edo Tensei, he seemed to be quite a serious and composed warrior, he and Tobirama didn't look much different personality wise; one could assume Orochimaru's limiting their powers to control them better also took its toll on their personalities, but nothing was said back then. This first taste of Hashirama's personality was pasted on related material as well, such as Video Games and fillers, showing us a composed warrior befitting of his legend. All that was rendered incompatible by the time Hashirama was revived again, showing us a more laid back and vigorously juvenile man who greatly contrasts with his brother, whose personality does resemble the one we first see. That said, when his Berserk Buttongets pushed too far...

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Invoked by Suigetsu in-universe after witnessing his personality when Hashirama gets revived by the Edo Tensei. He finds it hard to believe such a jovial, happy-go-lucky person is one of the strongest shinobi ever. The second half of this trope comes into play when his Berserk Buttons are pressed.

Famed In-Story: Hashirama went down in history as one of the most powerful shinobi to ever live, certainly the most powerful in his time; the man who founded Konoha in its entirety with his Wood Release, the man who achieved a brief world peace, the man who created the Will of Fire, etc. It's actually to the point many in-story characters consider a lot of the stories about Hashirama to be mere myth and exaggeration. What those stories didn't pass on was his exuberant and jovial personality.

Founder of the Kingdom: Co-founder of Konoha with Madara Uchiha, before things went sour with the latter. He's also the founder of the whole Balance of Power system between the five great ninja villages.

The Gadfly: Enjoyed getting a rise out of Madara back when they were kids.

Good Is Not Soft: At the Valley of the End, Madara notes that Hashirama isn't as soft as before.

Greater-Scope Paragon: He is the one who founded the Village Hidden in the Leaves that subsequently created the entire system of hidden ninja villages and the "Will of Fire" which is abide by almost all ninjas of Konoha also originates from him.

Green Thumb: He can grow entire forests in seconds with his Wood Style.

Healing Factor: According to Madara, he could regenerate without using hand signs and knew many healing jutsus.

Probably one of his nicest characteristics is also is biggest flaw. He wants to believe that there is good in everyone, so he gave his childhood friend a lot of chances over the years and he utterly refused to accept that Madara was beyond help until their final battle at the Valley of the End, after he had attacked the village one too many times.

This happens again after Madara is fully revived. He thinks Sasuke's resemblance to Izuna will cause Madara to falter and reawaken his kind side. This is a pretty bad judgement, considering that Madara tried to roast Sasuke just a few minutes earlier. Predictably, this assumption ends poorly for Sasuke.

Idiot Hero: As noted by his brother, though he comments that Naruto outdoes him in this regard.

Irony: As pointed out by Sasuke, Hashirama being ready and willing to kill anyone (be it a brother, a friend, even a family member or even his own child ) to protect Konoha makes Itachi the direct heir to his legacy, as he did the same thing on a larger scale.

Knight in Sour Armor: After he killed Madara, he resolved to persevere and watch over the village, protecting it from anything and anyone that might threaten it.

Hashirama:I will not forgive anyone who threatens the village. Be they a friend... sibling... or even my own child...

Lightning Bruiser: He has the Senju lifeforce which means he has a massive amount of physical strength like his granddaughter Tsunade, and he's fast enough to outrun a Bijudama launched by Susanoo Kurama. Note, the Bijudama clocks at Mach 143 in sheer speed.

Living MacGuffin: The man's cells have been stolen and cloned so many times over that it is not an exaggeration to state that every Big Bad is running off his power. The primary Big Bad's army is actually just a ton of quasi-Hashirama clones.

Nice Guy: Despite knowing Sasuke is considering destroying the village he helped create, Hashirama is remarkably cheerful and courteous towards him. It makes a lot more sense in hindsight once you realize that Hashirama was best friends with Madara and that Sasuke's resemblance to Madara means Hashirama is trying to succeed with the former where he failed with the latter.

No Hero to His Valet: He may be revered as a God-like shinobi by the rest of the world, but his younger brother Tobirama shows him much less respect, and even shushes Hashirama at one point, though he is quick to back down when Hashirama gets serious.

Not So Different: With Madara, ironically, concerning the Tailed Beasts. For all of Hashirama's compassion, he, like Madara, was unable to take the Tailed Beasts' feelings into consideration when using his powers to subjugate them and dole them out to the Hidden Villages as peace offerings. This is a mistake his next incarnation, Naruto, does not make.

Offered the Crown: Much to his chagrin. Hashirama's plan to make Madara the First Hokage fell apart when Tobirama correctly predicted that everyone in the village, including the Uchiha clan, would choose Hashirama instead.

Older Than They Look: Doesn't look much older than 30 when he is revived (and the technique used to do gives the revived the same appearance they had at their time of death), but he actually lived long enough to meet his granddaughter, meaning he was probably closer to 50.

Orochimaru brought him back (along with his brother) with the forbidden jutsu Edo Tensei. He brought them back again in during Fourth Shinobi World War, along with the 3rd and 4th.

Madara used some of his cells to recreate his body. It has no will of its own, though. The many Zetsus can also be considered quasi-Hashirama clones, as they're made from his cells but more along the lines of plant people.

Person of Mass Destruction: He was able to single-handedly fight the power of Madara Uchiha and the Nine-Tailed Fox simultaneously in a battle that created an entire valley.

Phlebotinum Rebel: Unlike the first time Orochimaru zombified him, where he was brought back much weaker than he was in life, the second time he's revived Hashirama is strong enough that Orochimaru can't control him. No doubt due in part to the fact that he's taking advantage of his new body being composed entirely of his own cells to augment the resurrection technique. Lucky for Orochimaru, though, Hashirama is much more interested in giving Sasuke some desperately-needed therapy than picking a fight at the moment.

Rebellious Spirit: As a young boy, Hashirama didn't hesitate to loudly criticize the cruelty of the shinobi system and the hypocrisy of the Senju clan to his father's face, getting routinely assaulted in the process for his trouble.

Red Oni, Blue Oni: Hashirama is much more cheerful and easy-going than his brother, who is a very serious and stoic person.

Reincarnation: Hashirama is the reincarnation of Ashura, the Sage of Six Paths' younger son.

Rousing Speech: Do Not Go Gentle variations. In the face of the overwhelming power of Obito and the God-Tree and his ability to instantly consume all the chakra in the planet, the entire shinobi army was morally broken and only Naruto and Sasuke decided to confront Obito. Then the whole alliance saw a Hashirama's memories about the first Five Kage Summit and his sincere hope for humanity that allowed the rest of the army to regain the will to fight and die to the bitter end.

Hashirama: (Past) Indeed so far we haven't really been able to get along nicely... That something we've been doing to protect our comrades and clans. In some cases it was maybe unavoidable. I'm actually not sure how long it will last... but one day... in the future... I dream of a time when all shinobi will cooperate with each others... A time when everyone's hearts will be together, regardless of their countries. It's my... dream of the future. Today, I would like this to be the first step towards that dream...! Please! Please! Please! Please! (At the present time) Please!! Our dear descendants!! Now bring together your pain, suffering and despair... Bring them together!! To show me our real dream!!

Rule of Symbolism: Hashirama's jovial demeanor, pacifistic nature, his desire to enlighten Sasuke, his establishment of a harmonious village that overcame the boundaries of clan-based tribalism, and several of his jutsu all heavily imply a Buddha-related theme. He was even able to establish a short world peace that promptly shattered after his death. The first character used in writing his given name is also used as a counter for Buddhas.

His brother's opinion of him. He thought the Senju and Uchiha would live together happily ever after once the village was founded, along with any other clan that joined them. Things unfortunately weren't that simple.

He also thought that Sasuke's resemblance to Madara's deceased brother would deter Madara and that maybe Sasuke could get through to him. Needless to say, this plan did not pan out.

Story-Breaker Power: His Wood Style allows him grow entire forests in seconds. He could to control the Tailed Beasts as a pets. Also he has Sage Mode which the allowed him to create a huge statue of Avalokiteśvara, the 1000-armed bodhisattva, in the span of a fucking second. For the sake of perspective, the Kurama looks like a real fox next to a two-story building and even Madara, who wiped the floor with five Kage, used the Sharingan to bring Kurama under his control and Hashirama still beat him with this. Oh yes else he could regenerate without using hand signs and knew many healing jutsus into the bargain.

Superpower Lottery: He can tame the Tailed Beasts with just a pat on the forehead, create entire forests to manipulate the battlefield as he sees fit or create giant flowering trees on the same scale that pump out a knock-out pollen, create massive wooden constructs designed to fight the aforementioned Tailed Beasts called 'Mokujin' or 'Mokuryu' (literally Wood Golem/Wood Person and Wood Dragon), and finally, he can become one with nature and can enter Sage Mode which gives him the ability to create Senpo: Mokuton: Shinsusenju, the largest construct in the entire series, which makes Kaijus feel like pets. On top of that, he also has a Healing Factor on the same level of Tsunade's Byakugo no Jutsu!

Superpowerful Genetics: His life-giving chakra and Wood Style are highly coveted, especially since it seems to be a major recessive trait not shared by any of his siblings or passed on to any of his descendants.

Terrain Sculpting: In the flashback of his last fight against Madara, his Sage Mode allowed him to create a TITANIC statue of Kannon/Guanyin, the 1000-armed bodhisattva, in the span of a second. For the sake of perspective, the Nine-Tails looks like a real fox next to a two-story building.

Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The brothers were right on the verge of defeating the Uchiha for good, with Tobirama holding a katana directly above an exhausted Madara's chest and about to kill him. Then Hashirama stopped him, allowing everything Madara would later set in motion to occur.

Verbal Tic: Played with. He's not as bad as the likes of Naruto, but ends his sentences with a forceful "zo" pretty frequently.

Warrior Therapist: Tried to play this role to Madara and the Uchiha as a whole. It... didn't really work out in the long run. Also tried to do this with Sasuke that worked but only partially.

We Used to Be Friends: With Madara Uchiha. He had fantasized as a kid with Madara about creating a place where children wouldn't be sent to die in war. As an adult, after temporarily giving his old dream a shot, Madara was those who named the Hidden Leaf Village.

Wide-Eyed Idealist: Comes across as one, with his insistence on sharing power and enabling Madara's insanity over and over again because he believes in a perfect world where they can be super best friends forever.

The Worf Effect: Black Zetsu hijacks Obito's attempt to bring back several deceased characters, forcing him to instead resurrect Madara. Just to demonstrate how powerful Madara is even now when he's no longer an Edo Tensei zombie, Hashirama is subject to this, with Madara somehow absorbing his Sage Mode.

Due to the fact that Edo Tensei hadn't been perfected when Orochimaru used it against Sarutobi, he was brought back with much less than full strength, which accounts for his poor showing in that fight.

As Madara's resurrection showed, Hashirama couldn't have been brought back by Orochimaru at full strength, leading to him being defeated with almost zero effort by Madara.

World's Strongest Man: Many consider him to be this. Even Madara Uchiha which the famous for his ego recognizes him as a person who is stronger than him.

Tobirama Senju

My brother believed that the village was something that demolish the boundaries between clans. Well in the end it wasn't that simple… My brother was too soft… and Madara too dangerous… My role as Second Hokage was to mediate between them while protecting and reinforcing the village.

The younger brother of the First Hokage, who is a master of Water Style jutsu. He is also very impassive and lacks the merciful nature that defines his older sibling. He revolutionized the shinobi system by creating institutions and organizations, such as ANBU and the Shinobi Academy, that were adopted by all other ninja villages. Post Time Skip, quite a few new elements about him were revealed, including him being the one who created Edo Tensei, the Flying Thunder God Technique, and the Shadow Clone Technique.

Awesome by Analysis: He figures out Obito's Chakra Weapons are Yin-Yang Release, which means... Edo Tensei can't regenerate and if hit fatally-they die permanently. He also constantly analyzes Obito's abilities and powers to find a weakness, and finally found one in the form of Senjutsu.

Berserk Button: Threatening to destroy Konoha. Especially if you do it in front of him, as Sasuke found out the hard way.

Blue Is Heroic: In combat, he wore blue armour with a distinctive white fur collar over a simple black suit. Verges on anti-heroic at times, but still has the Leaf's best interest at heart.

Combat Pragmatist: It's been noted Tobirama liked to wait for the moment his opponent thought they had claimed victory, then strike while their guard was down. He also seemed to have inspired Minato's combat tendencies, using the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport directly to an enemy and strike them before they could even react.

Tobirama: (teleports to Obito to return the truth-seeking ball bomb) You can have this back now.

Death Glare: One strong enough to make Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Suigetsu freak out and alarm both Minato and Hiruzen. It actually wasn't just the glare, but also a massive release of chakra as a threat when Sasuke openly considered destroying Konoha in front of him. Hashirama releases an equal amount of chakra (including his own Death Glare) which causes the shrine they're in to start crumbling.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Played for laughs between him and Naruto. Naruto is completely unaware of his role in inventing various jutsu, which annoys Tobirama without fail.

Naruto: Wow! You can copy my dad! Old man with the face of the Second Hokage!

Tobirama: It's the Fourth that's copying me. Also, you should address me as the Second with respect!

Elemental Baggage: The first major aversion in the series. The ANBU watching his fight with Sarutobi mention how incredible he is to be able to use massive water style jutsu with no preexisting water source.

Fantastic Racism: Played with. He believed the Uchiha were a "clan possessed by evil", and the natureofthe Sharingan makes them volatile and dangerous. To this end he tried to give them a position that would help channel their power to something productive with the Military Police - though this had the effect of isolating the Uchiha and exacerbating tensions. When he learns they had been wiped out after attempting a coup he is unsurprised, but admits he does not hate the Uchiha, just that they should be treated with caution. He even admired those who never succumbed to the Curse of Hatred and worked with the village, like Kagami. It's just that the Uchiha were on his radar more than any other clan in Konoha.

Giant Wall of Watery Doom: His Water Encampment Wall not only surrounds him with a towering wall of water, but also floods the surrounding area.

Good Is Not Nice: Tobirama is among the leaders in Naruto who lean towards cynicism while still being a priori good. The fact that Orochimaru of all people said Tobirama was the Hokage he admired the most says a lot...

Heroic Sacrifice: Possibly. It's hinted that he appoints Sarutobi as Third Hokage because Tobirama did this to save his team.

Hoist by His Own Petard: Brought back as a indestructible zombie by Orochimaru thanks to the technique he created. Twice.

Hypocrite: Once lectured his late younger brother, Itama, about letting his grudge for fallen loved ones color his view, yet when it came to the Uchiha, alot of actions suggested that he never once let go of the fact that Itama was killed by them.

I Did What I Had to Do: He feels no guilt in his treatment of the Uchiha clan, even after hearing of Itachi's massacre of them.

Jack-of-All-Stats: He invented Edo Tensei, but Orochimaru and Kabuto perfected it and took it to a whole new level. He invented the Flying Thunder God Technique as well, but Minato's use of it is faster than his. He also created the Shadow Clone technique, and it became one of Naruto's signature techniques.

Lightning Bruiser: He's fast enough to tag the newly empowered Obito without even knowing it and can crater a wall just by pushing his hand against it.

Making a Splash: According to the databook he's the greatest Suiton user to ever live. Yes, that means greater than Kisame and the Second Mizukage. Ironically, he's barely used any in his biggest battles.

My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Tobirama was an excellent sensor-type ninja in the same vein as Karin and the Second Tsuchikage, to the point he could detect both the number and the strength of shinobi from a long distance away, as well as the direction they're in/coming from.

Necromancer: He invented Edo Tensei, which creates infinitely-regenerating bodies of paper and ash that have a self-perpetual supply of chakra.

Nerves of Steel: Everyone else freaked out when Hashirama actually got serious after Tobirama's epic Death Glare. Tobirama himself barely even flinched, and despite the fact he backed down soon afterwards, showed no signs of even being bothered by his brother's Let's Get Dangerous! moment. Possibly justified by the fact they're brothers who seem to be on rather good terms and have known each other for so long. Of course, that doesn't explain Tobirama's emotional flat-line at the idea of facing a resurrected Madara Uchiha, even taking the initiative to do just that before Orochimaru stopped him.

Not-So-Small Role: Prior to late in Part II, Tobirama's only real purpose is to fill the gap between Hashirama and Hiruzen in the Hokage line, and being the one who started the Chunin Exam tradition. Turns out he's one of the most important characters in the entire setting.

One-Man Army: He was renowned for being able to clear entire battlefields by exploiting the regeneration ability of an Edo Tensei body and turning all that paper and ash into tags that summon more of themselves before exploding for a massive, self-perpetuating chain of explosions. It's implied he could do it needing to use Edo Tensei, too.

Reasonable Authority Figure: He wasn't just suspicious of the Uchiha, he was suspicious of every clan that might pose a threat to Konoha. However, those individuals who could overcome clan mentality and put Konoha first were the ones who inevitably ended up earning both his trust and his respect.

Reason Before Honor: His methodology in running the village, which arguably started more problems than it solved, and his distrust of Madara and the nature of the Sharingan even after the alliance made by the Senju and Uchiha clans eventually helped drive Madara to his Start of Darkness.

Tobirama: My brother believed that the village was something that demolish the boundaries between clans. Well in the end it wasn't that simple… My brother was too soft… and Madara too dangerous… My role as Second Hokage was to mediate between them while protecting and reinforcing the village.

Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's much more serious and stoic than his brother, Hashirama who is more cheerful and easy-going.

Sacrificial Lion: Used himself as a decoy during the First Shinobi World War to allow his subordinates to escape a group of highly elite enemy ninja, naming Hiruzen as Hokage right before he did so. Presumably, he didn't come back.

Space Master: Just as good at space-time ninjutsu as Minato and Tobi, this is the guy who invented the Flying Thunder God Technique. Though it's more a case of Minato and Tobi being just as good at the art as he was, given they came after him.

The Spock: Much more rational and cold in his thinking than his brother. When he was younger and had a conversation with his brothers about what was needed to stop the conflict and create peace, his answer was to give shinobi a code of conduct that would stop senseless and endless killing. He even stated everything he does is for the greater good of the village, even if it leads to what many would and do consider bigotry, discrimination, or callousness.

The Stoic: Tobirama is always composed, even when he's threatening someone.

Stuff Blowing Up: He could use Edo Tensei, or just place special explosive tags on his target, and said tags would summon more tags before blowing up, then the summoned tags would do the same... over and over and over... starting a chain reaction of massive explosions to wipe out the target. During the First Shinobi World War, his use of it was a Reset Button for entire battlefields.

Super Speed: He was hailed as the fastest Shinobi in the world while he was alive, and Minato would later

He is the one who killed Madara's last living brother, Izuna. Since the loss of his brother was a major factor in Madara going bad, Tobirama is arguably indirectly responsible for everything Madara's actions would cause in the present day. Which is basically everything. Izuna's death would also lead to Madara implanting his brother's eyes into himself and unlocking the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which would eventually evolve into the Rinnegan, be implanted into a young boy named Nagato and, several transplants later, ultimately be used by the original Madara (returned from the dead with one of Tobirama's own techniques) to implement the Moon's Eye Plan.

Tobirama protested Hashirama's wish to make Madara the Hokage. While there's nothing wrong with sharing his belief that their leader should be elected democratically in private, he also gets into his belief that the Sharingan is evil due to it being powered by hate and tells Hashirama that the village, including the Uchiha, would never accept Madara as Hokage. When Madara was, unbeknownst to Tobirama, concealing himself from his sensory abilities and eavesdropping on them. This dashed Madara's slowly rekindling hopes for a peaceful future and sent him right back off the deep end. He even used Tobirama's likely ascension to Hokage after Hashirama and his "inevitable" persecution of the Uchiha as part of his justification for turning on the Leaf.

After Madara died fighting Hashirama, Tobirama elected to hide his body in the forest in order to study the Sharingan further, rather than sealing and destroying it, as was protocol. Had he destroyed Madara's body, Madara would have been unable to resurrect himself the first time through use of his time-activated Izanagi.

Tobirama gave the Uchiha control over the Military Police in the hope they could channel their power and emotions into something useful to the village, and as a means to prevent a new Madara from showing up because the Military Police would be right there to catch them. What that actually ended up doing was isolate the Uchiha from the rest of the village, on top of giving them their own base of operations. Naturally, when things started to go sour, there wasn't nearly enough communication or good will going around to try to reverse the damage until it was already too late. In a way, this was not unwitting at all. Tobirama himself admitted he wanted to keep surveillance on the clan, and he built their district on the site of an old prison.

He created Edo Tensei, which was said to be meant as a Reset Button for entire battlefields, essentially allowing anyone who knew the technique to single-handedly dominate a war through sheer attrition. Orochimaru later acquired the technique and made improvements to it, eventually culminating in Hashirama and Tobirama's resurrection by Orochimaru during the latter's attack on Konoha, which would result in the Third Hokage's death. Then Kabuto got his hands on the technique and made even more improvements to it, using it to revive dozens of powerful ninja throughout history under his control, inflicting countless casualties against the allied shinobi forces trying to stop Tobi's Evil Plan, and one of these revived ninjas was Madara himself. Then Orochimaru used it to revive Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, and Minato at near full strength, and he has full control over the movements of all of them except Hashirama. That same revived Madara then went on to successfully implement the Moon's Eye Plan.

It's heavily implied Tobirama was the one who inspired Danzo's political philosophy and outlook, given the eerie similarities between the two. Pretty much every non-Uchiha villain in the series including Orochimaru has ties to Danzo, and Danzo not only was one of the parties directly responsible for ordering the Uchiha massacre (the other two were part of the team Tobirama personally trained, by the way) that led to Sasuke's Start of Darkness, he was also there to help along both Nagato and Kabuto's own Starts Of Darkness.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: He was paranoid and mistrusting of the Uchiha clan since childhood, disagreed with his brother's efforts to try to make peace with them, and enforced their isolation to protect the rest of the villagers after Madara tried to destroy the Leaf, disregarding that Madara betrayed his own clan to do what he did, and then claimed he didn't hate all of them, as a few earned his trust, while doing absolutely nothing to reach out to the rest of them like his brother would have. He also developed the Impure World Resurrection that allowed Orochimaru and Kabuto to revive dead ninja to use as weapons, with the caveat that captured enemies would be used to bring back fallen allies. His rampant bigotry and paranoia towards the Uchiha, and the fact that he crossed a line in creating a means to revive the dead to use as weapons for protection of the village, and suddenly one understands why his own brother wanted to pass him over in favor of Madara, at least, before Madara turned on the Village.

What the Hell, Hero?: Orochimaru calls him out for even creating EdoTensei, let alone actually revealing it to the world. Even one of the Kage who was alive during Tobirama's time called Edo Tensei a "wretched technique" after being revived by it. His predecessor (and older brother) Hashirama agrees and is implied to have argued with Tobirama about it in the past.

Worf Had the Flu: Due to the fact that Orochimaru had not yet mastered Edo Tensei in Part I, he was brought back with less than full strength, which accounts for his poor showing in his fight against Sarutobi.

Sarutobi was the Hokage when the series began. At the outset of the story, he was one of only two people - the other being Iruka Umino - shown to give Naruto any consideration at all.

We learn more about him through flashbacks: In his prime, he was hailed as "The Professor" for his mastery of numerous techniques (allegedly knowing every jutsu developed in the Leaf), and "God of Shinobi" for being unquestionably the greatest ninja of his generation, and after seeing the power of Hanzo, the Third Raikage, and the Third Kazekage to name a few, this is saying a lot. He also trained the Sannin. Later, we learn that he was the only member of the Leaf's brass to speak out against the massacre of the Uchiha Clan, who were suspected of plotting a coup.

He retired after a while, giving the title to the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya's student Minato Namikaze. After the Fourth's death, he takes the title of Hokage again. He later gets a more permanent retirement at the hands of Orochimaru, but not before sealing his old student's arms.

Badass Grandpa: Despite being severely weakened by age, he fought and defeated the previous First and Second Hokages when they were resurrected as immortal, inexhaustible zombies by Orochimaruat the same time. This was considered pathetic by his ally, Enma, the King of Monkeys, compared to his prime. It's even claimed that despite his advanced age, Sarutobi was still the strongest of the existing Kage at the time of his death. This includes Onoki, who is able to annihilate entire armies with his jinton and was considered to be the strongest of the living Kage when the group had both Tsunade and A.

Four-Star Badass: He is an old war veteran who generally comes off as a grandfatherly figure, but in the Chunin Exam Arc, he shows how he earned his title "The God of Shinobi" by fighting against both of his resurrected predecessors plus the most talented of his three legendary students, all at the same time, successfully defeating them at the cost of his own life.

Good Is Not Soft: Averted, Sarutobi is a case of Good is soft and it's played as a something of a character flaw. Because of his softheartedness, he was unable to bring himself to stop Orochimaru when he had the chance, which would come back to a haunt him and MANY other people. He also let Danzo handle difficult/morally ambiguous situations he didn't want to deal with, which he eventually comes to regret.

Horrible Judge of Character: He actually allowed Danzo to reform ROOT after the Fourth Hokage had disbanded the shadow group, because he felt he needed someone to take care of the dirty deeds that couldn't be linked to the village. The Fourth ended up being right in not trusting ROOT; Danzo schemed for years to oust Sarutobi to become Hokage himself, going as far as seeking assistance from foreign powers to do so, enabling Orochimaru's experiments, and even forced the Uchiha coup to be unable to resolve peacefully by removing the eye of Uchiha Shisui, who planned to use it to pacify his clan, only to transplant it to himself so he could use it's superior hypnotic capabilities to get his way.

Identical Grandson: In his later years, he looked virtually the spitting image of the Sage of Six Paths, even if he's probably removed by direct lineage from him.

Informed Ability: Supposedly mastered every jutsu in the village, yet all he uses is Fire and Earth Style jutsu and a pole that's also a monkey. He's also supposed to be the strongest ninja of his generation, but his one and only on-screen battle against the two preceding Hokages and Orochimaru leaves something to be desired. After being revived during the final phase of the Shinobi World war, he was shown using much more impressive techniques and even use all five elements at once. This heavily mitigated the "informed" part.

Last-Name Basis: Virtually everyone who doesn't refer to him by his title calls him by his last name, except Danzou, who was on a First-Name Basis with him because he was his rival.

Meaningful Name: In addition to being derived from Sarutobi Sasuke, the first half of his last name (which is sometimes used as a nickname) means "Monkey". He also has a Summoning contract with the Monkey King, Enma.

The Mentor: Trained the next generation to be ready for any dangerous threat, once he passes on.

Modern Major General: He believes his entire tenure as Hokage was merely one failure after another, and that he was unable to properly carry on the work his predecessor had begun.

My Greatest Failure: He has a few, the two major ones being unable to bring himself to kill Orochimaru when he had both the chance and the ability, and the destruction of the Uchiha Clan. He also deeply regrets not reigning in Danzo's activities more, which allowed Danzo to do things that ended up causing or influencing many of the tragedies in the manga, to the extent that Danzo has ties with every major non-Uchiha villain in the series, including Orochimaru.

Nice Guy: The Third was known as someone who cared deeply about the village and was one of the few who never alienated Naruto, along with Hinata, Iruka, Teuchi and Ayame. As Hokage, he had also acquired a habit of attempting to end things peacefully, and did what he could to avoid bloodshed amongst his allies and his enemies.

Nice Hat: He's the only Hokage (actually, the only Kage) to wear one for most of his screen time.

The Nose Knows: Uses his sense of smell to bypass Zombie!Hashirama's darkness genjutsu.

Old Master: He's the only Hokage to live into his autumn years. For a while anyway. The 5th Hokage, Tsunade, is still shown to be alive in the series' epilogue, when she'd be around Sarutobi's age. Though she's retired, and still doesn't look it at all due to her appearance-changing jutsu. To say nothing of Onoki, who is by far the longest-living Kage in history.

Old Soldier: Even in his old age, he still went on combat missions where his skill and knowledge was required.

Playing with Fire: Fire Style is passed down in his family much like it is in the Uchiha family.

Reasonable Authority Figure: A lot more reasonable and tolerable then the Fifth Hokage, and a peaceful man. Though later subverted since one of his flaws was being a bit too nice, as he admits that many of the problems in the current story stem from him letting people such as Orochimaru and Danzo get away with things.

Red Baron: He was named the "Professor" for his apparent mastery of all ninja arts, but what really set the bar was his second nickname... God of Shinobi (which, by the way, was originally the moniker of both the Sage of Six Paths and Hashirama Senju.)

Sacrificial Lion: The Third Hokage is the first major good guy to die, after having had plenty of screentime and characterization. This has a huge impact and lasting consequences, setting up a Meaningful Funeral and kicking on the "Search for Tsunade" arc.

Senseless Sacrifice: He sacrificed his soul to stop then-current Big Bad Orochimaru. While this did bring Orochimaru's immediate plans to a halt, it didn't actually do anything to hinder him in the long run, apart from forcing him to switch bodies before Sasuke could arrive at his base, and even if Hiruzen had succeeded it's been established that Orochimaru can completely resurrect from any of his subordinates' Cursed Seals, so basically the Third killed himself to kill Orochimaru and utterly failed in every respect. And after Orochimaru cut open the Death God's stomach, the only permanent result of Sarutobi's sacrifice is his own death, and Sarutobi, who was brought back using Edo Tensei at the time, is painfully aware of this. However later subverted in that doing this stopped Kabuto from summoning the Hokages with the Edo Tensei and using them against the Shinobi Alliance. Considering that the dead Hokage are undeniably the strongest of all the Kage in history, that probably aided the Alliance the most in the long run.

Spectral Weapon Copy: Variant: He has a jutsu called "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu" where he throws his shuriken and then puts off some Hand Seals, after which the shuriken multiplies itself as it flies to its target.

Team Dad: To pretty much the entire village, especially the Academy students.

Unknown Rival: He apparently had no idea that Danzou was always envious of him.

Warrior Poet: The quotation about tree leaves and flames at the top is from a poem of his.

What Happened to the Mouse?: During the battle with Obito, he was hit by one of his Ten-Tails Weapons. In the first form, Edo Tensei are able to regenerate (as shown by Tobirama) but Hiruzen hasn't been back up for another round against Obito or even assisting Hashirama against Madara. He finally shows up after the World Tree is formed from the Ten-Tails, saving Naruto from its life-sucking branches.

Minato Namikaze

"To be a ninja is to be at constant war against hate. It holds true for all of us."

The Fourth was Kakashi's teacher, Naruto's father, the hero of the Third Shinobi World War (so feared by the Hidden Rock Village that a "flee on sight" order was given to their entire army for him) and vanquisher of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Notably, he was a master of the Flying Thunder God technique (which allowed him to instantly teleport to any spot marked with his seal), and developed the Rasengan, a spiraling ball of kinetic energy that took him three years to develop and is so devastating as to be able to defeat even S-class nin with a single attack. He later taught it to Jiraiya and Kakashi, the former of whom would eventually teach it to Naruto.

The Fourth died as a side effect of sealing the Nine-Tails into Naruto. The price for the seal was to imprison his own soul along with the Nine-Tails'. The seal has a failsafe; upon reaching 8 tails, Minato appears in Naruto's mind to prevent the total destruction of the seal. When Orochimaru split open the Shinigami Death God's belly, it released his soul from its 16-year confinement and allowed Orochimaru to put it in an Edo Tensei body.

Favorite phrase: "The fire's shadow illuminates the village"

Action Dad: He's Naruto's father and proved to a very powerful ninja when he was alive.

Adult Fear: Even though he knew that it had to be done, it didn't make it any easier knowing that he had essential placed his newborn son Naruto on a very treacherous path in life by making him Kurama's jinchuriki. It would be something that would haunt them both in death, till Naruto told them he understood.

Amazon Chaser: Kushina was a tough lady, and Minato became smitten with her after he realized that she could fight off her bullies without any help.

Awesome by Analysis: Minato was able to understand Madara's Black Chakra's properties such as Madara can only control them up to 70 meters, meaning that if Madara can't see them, he loses control of them

Badass Bookworm: In addition to being the strongest ninja of his time, Minato is noted in the databooks to have absolutely loved reading, with Jiraiya's first novel being his ultimate favorite.

Badass Longcoat: Known for it, and his son Naruto temporarily inherited the tradition.

Battle Couple: With Kushina. They even took on Obito and the Nine-Tails together.

Beware the Nice Ones: He's a quiet and rather easy-going man. That being said, when his loved ones are threatened he shows just why he earned a "flee on sight" reputation.

Big Damn Heroes: He stopped the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha. Later on, he erased the Ten-Tails' Tailed-Beast Ball, saving the entire shinobi alliance from destruction.

Bishōnen: Kushina even mocks him in their youth for his pretty boy looks.

Broken Pedestal: A mild version. He was one of Naruto's inspirations growing up. After learning about the seal, Naruto never showed any change in attitude until they met and Naruto learned that he was his father. Naruto did punch him and called out on the cruddy childhood before wondering whether he should be happy or angry. While the 4th says that it's admittedly of little consolation to just apologize, Naruto does say that he'll deal with it, being the 4th's kid. During their talk, it was then built back up and even strengthened.

Isn't afraid to deal some cold truths to his students from what we see of him in Kakashi Gaiden - he's impressed that Kakashi came up with a new technique (Chidori), but forbids him from using it on the basis of its impracticality for as long as Kakashi has no way of predicting and countering his opponent's attack, and he lets Obito get away with the 'got something in my eye' excuse until his inability to react puts them in danger during a mission.

Ended up receiving this from Obito during the Fourth Great Ninja War. On his own part, despite finding out that Obito was responsible for everything that's happened up to that point, Minato is fully willing to admit some of the blame in not protecting Obito during the Third World War and Rin during the mission in the Hidden Mist Village.

He also tells Kakashi that as Obito's teammate and friend, it should have been Kakashi's, not Naruto's responsibility, to knock some sense into Obito.

Childhood Friend Romance: He and Kushina knew each other as kids, and couldn't have been more than about 14 when they fell in love.

Child Prodigy: Minato was a natural prodigy as a ninja, the likes of which appears only once in a generation a having the highest scores in the history of the Academy having finished it at the age of 10 years.

Given he didn't seem to have the same amount of raw power his predecessors were capable of, Minato relied on prior preparation, Teleport Spam, and using every advantage he could find against his opponents. He would even put the Flying Thunder God's formula on enemies' bodies, often without their knowledge, to extend where he could teleport to beyond the predictability of his kunai's locations. This also let him always find and go directly to an enemy even if he couldn't see them, and he would usually teleport behind them.

The worst part about the markings was they couldn't be erased once they were placed. Enemy shinobi who were marked by them were stuck with them for the rest of their life, and the markings could be used as a kind of sensory technique that let Minato know what was happening within a certain area of them. It's pretty much the shinobi-equivalent to Big Brother Is Watching You.

Another thing that makes his combat style so pragmatic is it uses no seals. Minato relies on speed, skill, and his unique kunai in combat. The only techniques you ever see him use during fights are the Rasengan and the Flying Thunder God. Neither one uses any hand seals, which not only minimizes his periods of vulnerability, but allows him to instantly punish opponents who do rely on jutsu as well as free up both his hands and his concentration. He's called the fastest ninja in history, and he earned that, because he maximizes speed in all its forms when he fights.

Crazy-Prepared: He prepared countermeasures for if Naruto's seal is on the verge of being broken or opened (his chakra was sealed inside so that he could restore the seal), and if his wife was in danger (he put a seal on her that allows him to immediately be at her side at any given moment). In fact, he seems to have scattered a bunch of seals all throughout the Leaf Village and the surrounding area, so he could teleport to anywhere in the village or redirect high powered enemy attacks into abandoned areas.

Cultured Badass: Hailed as one of the greatest ninja ever born, he was the guy that invented the devastatingly powerful Rasengan and had plans to make it stronger before he died. Enjoys reading, notably Jiraiya's first novel and the Third's poem, and even discussed the 'cycle of hatred' with Naruto, regarding Pain.

Death Glare: He gives a withering one to the masked man (the presumed dead Obito) after the latter ripped the Nine-Tails out of Kushina.

Determinator: Jiraiya remarked that Minato had the fiercest determination he's seen before Naruto. Which could attribute how Minato became Hokage so quickly.

Minato: I want everyone in the village to acknowledge me and become a great Hokage!

Disappeared Dad: Naruto's father who was killed by the Kurama via the manipulations of Obito. And as such, he wasn't there to raise his son.

Ditzy Genius: In contrast to his wife's Genius Ditz. Generally hailed as a genius who appeared once a decade, yet has little to no naming sense at all and acts like a total dork on some occasions. It's even lampshaded by Tobirama when he makes comparisons with Naruto.

Epic Fail: When his son is dying in front of him, Minato has to seal the other half of Kurama inside him to save his life but in the time it takes him to focus (and after being momentarily distracted by a flashback of how he promised Kushina to protect Naruto) Black Zetsu gets between them and steals the Nine-Tails right under his nose.

Four Is Death: The first Hokage to be confirmed to be dead in the first chapter.

Geometric Magic: His specialty, sealing techniques, taught to him by his wife Kushina, which included the Flying Thunder God jutsu, and was used to defeat the Nine-Tails.

The Gift: He is considered the fastest ninja who ever lived. He had a flee-on-sight order placed on him during the Third War, was able to figure out Tobi's weakness in seconds and created the Rasengan by observing the Tailed Beasts.

Giver of Lame Names: The names of his techniques can be overly grandiose. Tobirama Senju mentions that a name for a new attack he came up with would make him laugh if they weren't in the middle of a battle.

Golden Super Mode: Due to sealing the Yin half of Kurama's chakra into himself he can use use the Nine-Tails's chakra for this effect.

Heroes Want Redheads: The first thing he noticed about Kushina is her hair. This was also how he was able to track her down and rescue her when she was kidnapped, by following the strands of red hair that she dropped.

Heroic Sacrifice: The first thing we learn about him in the story is that he sacrificed his life to protect the Leaf Village from the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Hero of Another Story: Kishimoto has said that he would be interested in writing another story in the Narutoverse with Minato as the protagonist, which, being the Hokage automatically counts him as this.

Hidden Badass: Kushina initially believed him to be nothing but an unreliable wimp, but he proved her wrong when he saved her from the Hidden Cloud's kidnapping attempt.

Hyper Awareness: He would have to have had a rather healthy dose to truly be able to wipe out entire battalions in an instant as it was claimed. Even though he can get to every enemy on the battlefield by tossing his special kunai in every direction, he would have to warp to each one, identify the nearest enemy, dispatch him in the most efficient way possible, move on to another target, rinse and repeat. Scores of times. While the kunai are still flying. And this would all happen in a matter of seconds.

Like Father, Like Son: While Naruto takes after his mother in personality and intelligence, his looks came from his father and a lot of the events that happen in Naruto's life are similar to those that happened in Minato's. The most notable being that a lot of Minato and Kushina's romance is echoed by that of Naruto and Hinata's, including the two couples falling in love the same way: Rescue Romance, with the Red String of Fate being utilized in both rescue scenarios.

Ironically, while his student is one of the Big Bad's and a significant amount of the plot occurred within his lifetime, Minato seems to be the most ignorant of four revived Hokages about the whole situation.

Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Kushina's Masculine Girl. Kushina was a headstrong and impulsive tomboy with a fiery temper, who beat up anyone who made fun of her. In contrast Minato was a quiet nice guy who Kushina initially thought to be too feminine and unreliable to take seriously.

Mass Teleportation: By channeling his own power through Naruto and Kurama's chakra, he is able to teleport an entire army.

Mentor Occupational Hazard: This is in full effect considering that his student Obito is responsible for summoning Kurama to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village, which led to Minato's death in the end.

Messianic Archetype: Of a sort. He's like a proto-Naruto in that sense. When he was a kid, he wanted to be Hokage so that he could help everyone in his village. Jiraiya also at one point believed he was "The Child Of Prophecy", and would be the savior of the ninja world. To say nothing of the Warrior Poet tendencies he had, and the fact he literally gave his life protecting the village against the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox as his last act as Hokage.

Not realizing the masked man was his former student Obito Uchiha led him to sacrificing his life and family for the sake of facing a man (maybe) he could have stopped.

However, as Kurama (of all people), is quick to point out, it wasn't his fault. He couldn't have known his student would survive, and even then, knowing Tobi's identity that night wouldn't have changed anything. Kurama still had to be stopped, and trying to convince Obito to stop his plans would have been pointless. The Obito he knew was long dead by that point.

He also feels this way about his failure to protect his former team; specifically Obito (from being crushed and then taken in by Madara) and Rin (from dying). Had he managed to save either of them, most of the current story wouldn't have had to happen.

Names to Run Away from Really Fast: He was nicknamed The Yellow Flash. The running away part is acknowledged in the series, as Minato is still, to our knowledge, the only ninja to have ever had a flee-on-sight order placed on him.

So after Obito got the Juubi taken out, he was back to being normal. Kakashi was about to give him a well-deserved finishing blow, but Minato stopped him, using the If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him argument. In an attempt to redeem himself, Obito tries to use Rinne Tensei to bring back a number of deceased characters, but is hijacked by Zetsu and forced to bring back the real Madara Uchiha instead. So now, any trouble Madara gives the heroes, which starts with all nine of the tailed beasts being simultaneously absorbed, will happen because of Minato's decision to spare Obito.

He feels this way about not being there to save Obito, and his failure to handle the Nine-Tails' attack better.

One Degree of Separation: A case particularly annoying to the fandom, as he was an integral person in Jiraiya and Kakashi's lives as well as knowing a number of other people in the Leaf who would come to know his son Naruto... and none of them bother to tell Naurto about his family. While there are Fanon handwaves that Naruto's lineage was kept secret to prevent Minato's enemies from attacking him, that doesn't explain why no one has told Naruto about his parents or had any plans to. Naruto eventually learns via Minato himself, who sealed some of his personality into the Nine-Tails seal.

One-Man Army: Like all the Kages so far. For him it was the ability to destroy entire squadrons in milliseconds thanks to his Flying Thunder God Technique, and his Rasengan could defeat even S-rank opponents in a single hit as Tobi can attest.

Panicky Expectant Father: Well, he has every right to be with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox trying to escape from his wife's body during the birth of his son.

Minato: Umm... I've never seen Kushina in so much pain before that she's cried out like this. Is... is she really gonna be okay?

Papa Wolf: Obito exploits this to get him away from Kushina long enough to break the seal. Bastard.

Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Single-handedly curb-stomped Kushina's kidnappers when he was still in his early teens.

Plot-Triggering Death: His last act was to seal the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, thus providing impetus for the plot.

The Poorly Chosen One: Minato was studied at Jiraiya, who believed that he to be The Chosen One of an ancient prophecy destined to save the world. But during attack the Nine-Tailed Fox on Konoha, Minato himself realized that he is not The Chosen One and he's not destined to save the world but his son Naruto is the very same The Chosen One in which he was seal the Nine-Tails to give his son the means to fight the masked villain that caused this mess.

Posthumous Character: We've come to know him quite well for a character whose death kicked off the plot.

Power of Trust: As a parent, his reason for making his newborn son Kurama's jinchuriki, is because he believes that Naruto will be the one who will stop Tobi and save the world.

Purple Prose: A relatively mild version, but his big personality quirk is his tendency to come up with incredibly elaborate, overly-long names for new ninjutsu.

Red String of Fate: The first thing Minato noticed about his future wife Kushina was her bright red hair. It was so remarkable to him that it allowed him to track her down by using the trail of red hair she left behind after she was kidnapped by Kumo shinobi. After being saved by him, Kushina realized that the red hair she had hated so much had led her to her soulmate.

Sadistic Choice: After he freed the Nine-Tails from the masked man's control, he had to make a difficult choice. He could protect his son by allowing Kushina to reseal the Nine-Tails inside her and commit a Mutual Kill, resulting in the disruption of the Balance of Power between the Hidden Villages. Or he could protect the Leaf by sealing the Nine-Tails inside Naruto after weakening it first by using the Reaper Death Seal, leaving the baby orphaned and denying him a normal childhood.

Senseless Sacrifice: At first. One of his desires when he sealed Kurama's Yang half into Naruto was that that the people of Konoha would embrace Naruto as a hero instead of a plague. Which they didn't due to the grudge against the fox, instead they were convinced Naruto and Kurama were one in the same. Ultimately subverted when Naruto earns the entire village's respect and becomes a hero.

Speed Blitz:: The logical conclusion when one spams the Flying Thunder God jutsu.

Story-Breaker Power: His jutsu Flying Thunder God which is to the horribly broken combination of Super Speed and Teleport Spam. By spreading teleport tags around the battlefield, he can jump from one to the other in an instant, leaving no time for his opponents to react. He even сan leave teleport tags on enemies' bodies, often without their knowledge, to extend where he could teleport to beyond the predictability of his kunai's locations. This also let him always find and go directly to an enemy even if he couldn't see them, and he would usually teleport behind them. His Level 2 version of the technique is so fast that he can teleport to his kunai while they're still in the air after being thrown. And this, not to mention that he can even use it defensively by setting up markers well away from the battlefield and teleporting attacks any size away right before they hit. On two occasions, he uses this trick to stop a Biju Bomb which would have wiped out hundreds of lives otherwise. And the worst part about the markings they couldn't be erased once they were placed. Enemy shinobi who were marked by them were stuck with them for the rest of their life, and the markings could be used as a kind of sensory technique that let Minato know what was happening within a certain area of them. At the same time there is no restriction on the distance of the teleportation that means that he can find an opponent anywhere and anytime that with his speed means that it can kill the enemy in a matter of seconds.

Super Mode: Due to having Kurama's Yin Half, he has access to its chakra allowing him to use the same Golden Super Mode that Naruto can, and also an avatar of Kurama's Yin Half in his mind. He later reveals that he also has Sage Mode.

Super Speed: Along with Super Reflexes: Given he was able to react to A's top speed, which even the Sharingan could not track. He was commonly considered the fastest Shinobi in the world while he was alive. After his death, the title went to the Fourth Raikage. And was then claimed by his own son during the Fourth Shinobi World War. Of the four reincarnated Hokage, he is the first one on the scene to fight the Juubi. The Second Hokage, the creator of Minato's trademark Flying Thunder God Technique, explicitly says that Minato is faster than him upon arriving.

His entire fighting style. By spreading teleport tags around the battlefield, he can jump from one to the other in an instant, leaving no time for his opponents to react. His Level 2 version of the technique is so fast that he can teleport to his kunai while they're still in the air after being thrown, which is how he defeats Tobi in their first fight.

He can even use it defensively by setting up markers well away from the battlefield and teleporting enemy attacks away right before they hit. On two occasions, he uses this trick to stop a Biju Bomb which would have wiped out hundreds of lives otherwise.

Terror Hero: Due to his ability to clear a battlefield in an instant alone, there was a flee on sight order should he appear to a fight.

Thanatos Gambit: Sealed Kurama the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox into Naruto in order to eventually combat Tobi, as well as make sure that the tailed beast would not resurrect elsewhere, lost to the Leaf Village. He also used this to fulfill his beloved Kushina's dying wish that she might be able to see her son grow up, by placing her chakra in the seal.

Upon being resurrected with Edo Tensei and learning about the Uchiha clan massacre, Minato contemplates that his premature death contributed a lot to the present mess and that had he stayed around many tragedies could have been averted. He also acknowledges not giving Naruto the parental love he deserved and decides to compensate for that with a present.

It hits him really hard when he discovers his student was the one behind the attack and he could have stopped him without losing his life, his wife and making his son the Jinchuuriki of Kurama the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Weak, but Skilled: In a sense. While extremely powerful, Minato does not have the sheer chakra levels nor variety of jutsu's as the other kages. However, while Minato might be the weakest in that regard, he's arguably the most skilled out of them due to his mastery of the Flying Raijin Jutsu in conjunction with his training.

Weapon of Choice: His custom-made kunai, as pictured in the above image, all of which have the Flying Thunder God seal on the handle.

What Is One Man's Life in Comparison?: Discussed this with Kushina about sealing Kurama into their son Naruto in order to protect the village, damning him to a jinchuriki's lonely existence. Not that he enjoyed the idea any better than she did.

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